Billy's Camaro
by WrittenByMeow
Summary: What happened to Billy's Camaro? Canon compliant. Season 3 spoilers.


Billy's death had been so devastating, Max hadn't thought much about what would happen after. It was with a numb detachment as she watched her mother and stepfather sell and donate Billy's things. One by one, his old room was emptied.

There was one thing that Max couldn't see go. Over dinner one night, she asked Neil not to sell it. She had begged and pleaded and screamed at him. In the end he shoved her in her room and locked her in there until the next morning. The Camaro was gone by that weekend.

Max's eyes were red-rimmed the next time she saw her boyfriend. "He sold it," she blubbered. She hated crying in front any of the boys but she couldn't keep the tears in. "He sold Billy's car. It's gone."

Lucas ran his large palm down her back. She curled into him and hid her face in his chest. There was no hesitation as he wrapped his arms around her. He made soothing noises in her ear until she finally calmed down.

"Let's go to my place," he suggested.

She pulled away and wiped the back of her hands across her cheeks. "Why?" She demanded.

"Trust me," he said.

And Max did.

When she saw the familiar blue Camaro in the Sinclair's driveway, she nearly broke down crying again. She clapped both hands over her mouth to keep the sobs in. She looked to Lucas questioningly.

He shrugged, suddenly sheepish. "It was Steve and Nancy. They bought it from your stepdad and convinced my parents to keep it here. They're probably going to be pissed that I showed you without them but… it's yours."

"Mine?" She gasped.

He nodded.

Max threw her arms around Lucas and kissed him. It was wet and sticky from her crying. The kiss was not pretty or romantic at all and yet Max thought her heart might burst from how much she loved Lucas Sinclair.

It took years to save enough money to fix the car. Nancy hadn't been gentle when she had rammed her car into Billy's. The passenger side was caved in. There wasn't much that Max could do without a professional. She was lucky that Lucas's father Gerry was a patient man willing to show her. Eventually, she was able to send it to a mechanic.

Max hadn't gotten her license that long ago. In fact, the last bit of money that she had needed had come from her parents. It had originally been intended to buy a used car for herself. Technically, that money was going towards that. If she got the petty satisfaction of defying Neil, well, all the better for it.

When it was time to pick it up, Max asked Steve to come with her. She and Lucas were currently not speaking to one another and she didn't want to go alone. It felt fitting in a way.

The blue Camaro was waiting for them in the back parking lot. It gleamed in the afternoon sunlight. Max had to stop to take in all its glory.

"You okay?" He asked.

She sniffled twice. "I'm fine," she snapped. "Let's get in."

Steve was kind enough to let it go.

Max slid into the driver's seat. The leather was warm from sitting in the sun. Her palms ghosted over the steering wheel. Her fingers trembled.

She could remember the first time she saw this car. Billy had been so proud of it. Neil hadn't given Billy much, not that Max had seen anyways, but Billy had loved that car. She remembered riding in the passenger seat as Billy drove. He took her to and from school and to the arcade and the skate park, blaring his music that Max had always secretly liked. She remembered the handful of times he let her drive. So many memories of him screaming at her popped up. Most of the time she screamed back.

Memories of Billy saving her ass came, too. Max would say something and Neil would look at her in this way that made her blood freeze and Billy would say something nasty about Max, snatching back his father's attention. Neil had never hit her or her mother, but he liked to push and grab them. The same couldn't be said for what he did to Billy.

"Hey," Steve said, dragging her back to the present. He raised his brows. "You alright?"

Quickly, she nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm good."

The engine growled as she turned it over. It lowered into a purr. The familiar vibration rumbled through Max. She released a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. Carefully she backed out of the parking spot.

"Let's go pick up the guys," she decided aloud.

Steve shrugged and nodded. "Sounds good to me."

"Yeah," she murmured. "Yeah, me, too."


End file.
